Intrusive technology means privacy rights are necessary

By Ira Zunin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Feb 25, 2012

~~<p>A bill to levy a state soda tax was held back by our Legislature for the second year in a row. The support just wasn't there. Opponents argued that the government should not tell us what to do or how to live. But aren't Coca-Cola and Pepsi telling us what to do and how to live with the billions of dollars they spend on advertising? We already pay far more into the marketing budgets of soda companies than we would pay to the government via the soda tax.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that dollars from a soda tax could be used for diabetes education and treatment, the government has emerged as a bad guy with a branding problem. Soda companies have us convinced that freedom means an opportunity to buy their sugared water. Never mind the diabetes, never mind the obesity.</p>
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A bill to levy a state soda tax was held back by our Legislature for the second year in a row. The support just wasn't there. Opponents argued that the government should not tell us what to do or how to live. But aren't Coca-Cola and Pepsi telling us what to do and how to live with the billions of dollars they spend on advertising? We already pay far more into the marketing budgets of soda companies than we would pay to the government via the soda tax.

Despite the fact that dollars from a soda tax could be used for diabetes education and treatment, the government has emerged as a bad guy with a branding problem. Soda companies have us convinced that freedom means an opportunity to buy their sugared water. Never mind the diabetes, never mind the obesity. Login for more...